Continue if you are looking for games like Ticket To Ride, because that is what we are going to give you. Ticket to Ride is one of the most popular board games in the world, but did you know that there are other similar games out there that have its secret sauce as well as other ingredients. If you thought a game about train routes would be boring, you would be wrong. Ticket To Ride is special because you only have a few action options to take each turn and each decision is meaningful.
You are given secret goals at the beginning and you need to draft several color route cards from a communal pile to build routes to connect cities. A game that is great for the whole family. It has elements of resource management, set collection, network building and drafting. If you think all these things are great and love Ticket To Ride, this list of similar games might be for you. This is our list of 5 games like Ticket To Ride.
FOR MORE: Ticket To Ride Page | How To Play Ticket To Ride | Ticket To Ride Review | Buy Ticket To Ride on Amazon
#05 | Carcassonne
Sure thematically and gameplay-wise Carcassonne is very different, but that is why it is in the number five spot on the list of games like Ticket To Ride. Where it is similar is that the decisions you make are very simple but have so many potential options. In Carcassone you draw a random tile, you connect it to the board anywhere it makes sense and then maybe you use a meeple to try and get points. You create runs (roads) or groups (cities/cathedrals) to score points, just like in Ticket to Ride.
FOR MORE: Carcassonne Page | How To Play Carcassonne | Carcassonne Review | Games Like Carcassonne | Buy Carcassonne on Amazon
#04 | Splendor
Splendor is one step closer than Carcassonne, both on the list of games like Ticket To Ride and in a notch in gameplay. Splendor has the same thing, very simple action rules with many options that can be meaningful. The exception is that the turn structure is much more similar.
In Splendor you are a gem trader trying to collect and use gems to buy stuff that is going to get you points. Just like train cards for routes. You have a very small list of actions, either pick up gems or use them. That is just like Ticket to Ride, you can either pick up route cards or you can use them. Splendor is much more engine builder than Ticket to Ride but the gameplay (very euro-strategy) is the same.
FOR MORE: Splendor Page | How To Play Splendor | Splendor Review | Games Like Splendor | Buy Splendor on Amazon
#03 | Union Pacific
Right off the bat, the train theme of Union Pacific alone puts it in contention for games like Ticket To Ride immediately, but there is so much more than that. each turn, players must choose between expanding a company to increase its value and adding a share of stock to their hand, or playing stock onto the table from their hand to increase their ownership of one or two companies. You have only a limited amount of options and it is up to you how you want to go about it. Another example of a few decisions but big ones.
FOR MORE: Buy Union Pacific on Amazon
#02 | Santa Fe Rails
Coming out three years prior to Ticket To Ride comes another game about trains. This top entry on the list of games like Ticket to Ride is almost exactly the same thing. Just the goals of it and scoring (which do change a lot) are different.
On a map showing the western portion of the United States each player in turn can build track to extend any of 5 major railroad lines westward from their separate origins. Players may have conflicting goals for the route to be taken as each tries to gain rewards for connecting different cities. Some branching is allowed but each line has a limited number of track pieces.
FOR MORE: Buy Santa Fe Rails on Amazon
#01 | Airlines Europe
Even though the other games on the list of games like Ticket to Ride should get big points for the train them, Airlines Europe (and original and out of print Airlines) is too much of a dead-on ringer. And it is still travel so there you go. Airlines Europe is a stock game, with players earning points for the stock they hold in particular airline companies when one of the randomly determined scorings takes place.
On a player’s turn, that player either expands an airline and claims a stock, plays stock onto the board and receives a dividend or invests in a special airline. Just like choosing the train lines. In a crazy twist of board game history, Union Pacific (#3) is a derivative of Airlines Europe’s (this) predecessor. Kind of cheating but both are great and their own thing.
